Bug Spraying -- An Environmental Threat

Spraying Your Property is a threat to wildlife, your family and your wallet

HLPOA Director Paul Hewitt and volunteer Allison Hansen have put together an article/primer regarding the practice of fogging your lake property for mosquitos and ticks.  Learn how even so called "environmentally friendly" sprays are not safe and can cause problems for the food chain and fragile ecosystems.

Here is the article:

Why having your property sprayed for insects is devastating for the environment and wildlife, harming you and your family and a waste of money. 

On beautiful Horseshoe Lake Minden, and in fact everywhere we reside, we have the honour of sharing this beautiful space with many species. Each species plays a vital role in the intricate web of life that needs to be protected. It is no secret that we (all species on this planet) and the environment are in the midst of a triple threat of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss. One such threat is fogging for mosquitoes and ticks.

We are by no means saying that Mosquitoes and Ticks cannot be bothersome but, as quoted from the Canadian Wildlife Federation “they're crucial members of both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, not only as food for birds, bats, dragonflies and other creatures, but also as pollinators.” 

When you spray you are not just killing the ticks and mosquitos but every insect on your property. It kills the essential pollinators and even the dragonflies that devour a ton of mosquitos. Do you wonder why there are fewer birds around?  Many bird species  that rely on insects as a primary source of food like Grackles and Eastern Phoebes are losing a food source when spraying is done. Additionally, when a bird, bat or other insectivorous animal consumes a poisoned insect, they are consuming the  poison as well.   The “pest control” company will tell you “it's harmless and all natural” and then they put on a respirator to apply the product.  The next day your children and your pets are rolling around in that grass that is void of insects and laden with pesticides. The product is applied with surfactants so it adheres to plants for up to three weeks. Eventually where does the pesticide go?  Yep, right into our lake where we swim and most of us get our drinking water. 

Another interesting fact about mosquitos is they can travel over two kilometers searching for food. The pesticide kills most of those on your property but within a few days they are back looking for CO2 emitters such as ourselves

Ticks have been in the news a lot and although I do not like the term “fake news” there is certainly a lot of hysteria about them currently.  Yes, they are moving farther north but it is only a small percentage that carry disease and they need to be latched on to you for more than 24 hours to spread disease. 

So what can we do instead?

Mosquitos

• Avoid going out at dusk and dawn
• Wear light coloured clothing
• Remove standing water sources on your property where they will breed. 
• Buy or build a bat hose or two
• Naturalize your shoreline so dragonfly nymphs have a place to fulfill their mosquito eating destiny. 
• Lastly, put on bug repellent. 

Ticks

• Avoid walking in long grass
• If you are out in long grass tuck your pants into your socks. 
• Once back inside check yourself for ticks, or have your partner do it. (Who knows it could be fun)

Here are some links for further reading:

• Rewild Your Yard Without Inviting Ticks.  David Suzuki Foundation
• Rewild Your Yard Fact Sheet

This article was originally published in the HLPOA newsletter Keeping In Touch, August 2026